Prosecute or Move On?

One of the big concerns in the West, and particularly in Ukraine, is, when Russia’s war against Ukraine eventually comes to an end, will the perpetrators of war crimes pay a price for their crimes? The issue is important for a widely understood reason— and also for a less-widely known psychological reason.

Deterrence

Deterrence is a well-understood reason for wanting war criminals to pay a price for their crimes, acknowledges Yael Danieli, Ph.D., founder and director at International Center for Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma. Humanity needs there to be a deterrent so people in the future will know that committing war crimes has consequences. And to work as a deterrent, the punishment needs to be severe.

To be truly effective as a deterrent, perpetrators of murder, rape, kidnapping, and torture need to face consequences that go beyond jail time and include paying reparations to victims. Many who think about these issues want to see confiscation of all the perpetrator's property, to be given to their victims or victims’ families

However important paying a price is to deterrence, it serves an equally important if less-discussed purpose to society. It stops the intergenerational cycle of revenge.

Breaking the Intergenerational Cycle of Revenge

When war crime victims and their families fail to get justice, the legacy will likely be transmission of feelings of injustice to the next generation, even to yet-unborn children, according to Danieli. And the ways are predictable way. One way is hatred, rage, and a desire for revenge. Breaking the cycle by punishing war criminals now can help prevent future conflict.

As a clinical psychologist and expert on trauma, she has spent her career studying how populations are affected by genocide and mass violence. Her studies show that healing does not occur when war crimes aren’t prosecuted, or when society insists that victims be silent about their victimization, or when they move on and don’t get recognition that horrors in fact occurred.

Psychologists have known for decades that meaningful social support and validation is one of the most important factors in coping with traumatic stress. When parents, their children, or society at large do not talk about atrocities, victims’ feelings can’t be put to rest.Even without words, their feelings get handed down to their children and their children’s children.

The World Health Organization calculates that right now, more than 15 million people in Ukraine are enduring mental health issues severe enough to interrupt sleep or interfere with their ability to work or maintain close personal relationships. These individuals need healing.

“They need reparative justice,” Danieli says, “the kind where not only are the perpetrators of the war crimes brought to justice but where the justice process itself is healing for the victims.”

Danieli notes that “The people who bombed their cities to rubble or kidnapped their children and them sent to Russia, who raped women, tortured and shot civilians, these people need to pay a price for their atrocities.” She also wants the victims to be treated with respect, compassion, and dignity by both the justice process and society as a whole.

“These war criminals need to be tried and their punishment severe enough to deter others in the future," contends Danieli. Moreover, while punishing the offenders, it's crucial to offer victims a sense of justice that comes with worldwide acknowledgment that the offenders’ actions are a fundamental affront to civilization.

Punishment Essential Reads

Why Do Children Punish Unfairness?

5 Alternatives to Spanking for Cycle-Breaking Parents

It would be a mistake for the civilized world to stand back and say, “Oh well, that was in the past, let’s just move forward,” Danieli says. "Doing so ensures that healing will not happen and that the cycle of rage and hatred will re-erupt in future violent conflict."